Ah yes, that was it.
If that’s the case Valve can’t even do anything about that. But it probably won’t work in console/Xbox mode then. Hopefully for the games on Steam we want to play it won’t be a huge hassle to get them to work. Because if it’s full fledged Windows, will we have the option to change all the settings for games too then?
If it’s anything like the full screen mode, all you would need to do is exit full screen and access the rest of windows.
I also don’t think Valve would care, as Xbox PC means more potential customers, who may not be in their ecosystem.
The revenue change with this helix platform is very interesting. online sub revenue potentially going away. The 30% commission on 3rd party game sales will either go away to another store or be reduced to 12%. The cost of the box will reduce the total customer base.
That is a lot of downside. What is the upside? Existing pc owners switching to xbox pc game store? I don’t see a lot of that happening unless gamepass on pc is truly growing a lot.
Imo, It’s not about the current owners, it’s about the new ones wanting a PC like their favorite streamer.
Maybe this is a downbeat view but I don’t think Microsoft is choosing to do this because of the upside. If Xbox Series X was as successful as PS5 this wouldn’t be happening. It’s the position that they’ve been forced into because of the poor sales of Series X. The business is going to focus primarily on making money by selling games (on whatever store), with the Xbox console being an option for people who still prefer it. Using games to drive sales of the Xbox console is not the main point anymore.
Isn’t the assumption that they get rid of paid online all together?
I think Xbox will face competition from Steam, but Xbox already faces competition from Steam both in the sense of people choosing to buy a PC over an Xbox console and that Xbox & Battle Net (mostly Xbox) are storefronts on windows that Microsoft owns which face direct competition from other storefronts. Xbox has been making serious effort to pull gamers into their storefront/launcher over Steam. I think we’re long past subsidized hardware, and Xbox isn’t solely reliant on software sales on their platform anymore. They have game pass revenue and are a massive publisher. However, even considering all of that, I don’t think that many people will switch to Steam. People do have their preferred storefronts. If they haven’t already switched from Xbox Ms store to steam then they’re unlikely to even if they buy this hardware that theoritically could use Steam. We also know that most users don’t leave default experiences. Steam will be an option more for power users. It could even benefit Xbox if PC gamers who weren’t previously Xbox gamers decide to buy this Xbox Helix to pay their steam games. Especially if it’s more powerful than the Steam Box and has access to more games since it’s Windows.
In general I feel like concerns of everyone flocking to Steam are a bit unrealistic. People have been able to switch to Steam since ever and it’s always been “just buy a PC”. Xbox specifically has had first party day and date with Steam for a long while. Xbox has still maintained a healthy user base because people prefer the streamlined console experience. Steam also isn’t perfect. It has the biggest slop issue and can be overwhelming. The average Xbox upgrade isn’t going to leave the default experience for it. The biggest threat would be the Steam Box and Steam Deck, but Xbox can leverage stronger game support with windows. A concern would be developer support, but developers that currently support Xbox likely wouldn’t stop and if it’s the PC store commission then they have more incentive to develop for Xbox (better rates).
Yeah, this kinda feels like a reset. Create efficiencies by combining their two platforms, create developer efficiencies, consolidate all strategies. Once they jump this giant hurdle they will be in a better place to move forward with new growth strategies.
That’s been Xbox since the start tbh. Being in third place has always forced them to innovate to find new ways to grow. Where Sony and Nintendo close their hands tight around their existing market share and desperately hold on, Xbox has to be ambitious in changing the game entirely to grow well into the future.
Exactly. I see Kinect, Game Pass, backwards compatibility, no more exclusives, etc. the same way. Business as usual wasn’t getting them out of third place so they try new paradigms. It’s often been beneficial for us as customers (in some cases, maybe not in others) but it’s born of necessity. If Xbox was sitting pretty in first place we probably wouldn’t see all this innovation, for better or worse.
The flip side of the coin is Sony doing fine so they decide to double down on strategies that worked in the past, or copy what worked in the past for a competitor. And that too has positives and negatives.
If Take 2’s estimates are taken into consideration and we even include the switch 2’s 4.4 million in 2025.
With Playstation 5s recent 92 million number, Xbox Series console could have sold 41.6 million as of December 2025. Their main issue seems to be that they’re sales are pretty much inline or a little behind Xb1.
Edit: Making changes because I completely blanked out. So the Switch 2 is estimated to have sold 15 million+ consoles by December 2025, so the total number for Xbox should be closer to 30 million+. However the number don’t make much sense, because one of the estimates made by JohnWelfare and another company that has good tracking numbers placed Xbox at around 30-33 million consoles sold before December 2025.
Those numbers had been shared when Kepler decided to say Xbox has only sold 23 at best because of some vague manufacturing numbers he found. Which would mean that Take2 isn’t including the Switch 2 on the estimated numbers of Gen9 consoles sold(Specially if they’re not planning on launching, pushing Xbox back up to at least 46 million sold if Take2’s numbers are correct. Which considering they’re one of Microsoft’s biggest partners in gaming so I can only side eye it and go
With Gold shifting into Game Pass Essential I think it’s clear that they don’t believe they will be able to charge for online on the next box. That’s why they’re making it into a standalone thing where there’s $10 of value outside the online paywall: cloud streaming, ~65 games, and store discounts.
We should also remember this affects a very small number of Xbox users at this point. Ultimate and Premium subscribers are in it for the games. F2P players just doing Fortnite aren’t affected. So this is for the small number of people engaged enough to be playing paid multiplayer games, and who might upgrade to Helix, but who aren’t using Game Pass Premium/Ultimate. I really think MS is fine to just drop the requirement on Helix devices.
According to an industry expert, this new console already looks “SO bad”
Wait…that was DreamCastG…..never friggin mind
It would be an interesting experiment to give a game industry pundit descriptions of Helix and of the Steam Deck, and switch the labels… and then see which one is brilliant and visionary and which one is doomed to failure. 
One thing I think gets lost in a lot of gamer discussion about consoles…
I’m 43, my son is 10. I will buy every console that comes out for no other reason than to have something in common for us to do. Kids today don’t give a shit about tv or movies. Am I the only gamer dad left? Nobody ever talks about it.
It goes without saying I will buy the next Xbox. But even before that, I’m going to get him the Steam Frame VR that comes out this year. He got the Xbox Rog Ally last year. He’s not spoiled, he just has gaming as his number 1 hobby.
Too much of gaming discussion is by people that don’t have gamer sons. What’s up with that?
More gamer dads are probably just not online enough to bother with gaming discourse and that’s for the better tbh, too much of the discourse is by people who don’t seem like they enjoy games much anymore and want to rub off their negativity to everyone else, and it works unfortunately.
Speaking of the Steam Frame. How are we feeling about VR compatibility with the new Xbox? 
It’s a PC Console Hybrid, so yeah.
I hope Xbox games support VR going forward. I know Flight Sim 2024 is getting PSVR2 support, but I’m GamePass subscriber so it’s not like I want rebuy Xbox games on my PS5.
Something to think about.
Likely only if the devs want to, as VR is still nitch and growing more so with Facebook calling it quits.
Although a dev was saying that Facebook focusing on mobile maybe better for VR.
Or, hear me out.
Xbox has better games that translate to VR than PlayStation (or Facebook). Flight Sim obviously, but really everything else. Forza Horizon would top my list, but clearly Xbox has very big IP that could push VR beyond the niche. My 10 year old son LOVES VR. There are lots of kids his age playing Gorilla Tag on Meta Quest.
He’s literally playing it right now. Using his Xbox Meta Quest 3s. Just saying VR has a market.
